Aluminum dimensional letters are a great choice for exterior signage because they are versatile, and very durable. We made two set of painted aluminum dimensional letters for Meridian Hills HOA in Moorpark, California. Meridian Hills had two existing low walls at the entrance of the neighborhood that they wanted to install signs on. They carved out space for the letters, and our job was to manufacture, permit, and install the signs onto the walls. We went through a different typeface option and different size options with the client until a final design was decided on. Once we had approval from both the client and the city, we were able to pull the permit and start manufacturing. For signs that require a permit, we do not start manufacturing until the design and all of the specifications are approved just in case the city requires any changes.
For the production of the sign, we started with 3/8″ thick sheets of aluminum. Aluminum comes in many different thicknesses, and you want to adjust the thickness accordingly to the size of your sign. These letters are 15″ tall so 3/8″ thick material works well. The letters are routed from the aluminum, and in this case we painted them. If the client wants a brushed aluminum look or just plain silver, we can just keep the letters as they are. But Meridian Hills HOA wanted them to be painted duranodic bronze. We can custom paint your dimensional letters whatever you want them to be, as long as you give us a color.
For installation, the letters are tapped with studs, and installed into the walls by drilling holes into the walls, filling them with silicone, and pushing the studs into the holes. As you can tell from the photos, the letters are not completely flush to the wall. This is because we used 1/2″ spacers which make sure that the letters are spaced off of the wall by 1/2″.